1992 United States Senate election in Illinois

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1992 United States Senate election in Illinois
Flag of Illinois.svg
←  1986 November 3, 1992 1998  →
Turnout74.84%
  Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (1).jpg Amb. Richard Williamson (1).jpg
Nominee Carol Moseley Braun Richard S. Williamson
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote2,631,2292,162,833
Percentage53.27%43.06%
1992 United States Senate election in Illinois results map by county.svg
County results

Moseley Braun:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

Williamson:     40–50%     50–60%
U.S. senator before election

Alan J. Dixon
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Carol Moseley Braun
Democratic

The 1992 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Senator Alan J. Dixon decided to run for re-election a third term, but he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Carol Moseley Braun, who won the general election. Until 2022, this was the last time a single party won Illinois's Class 3 Senate seat in two or more consecutive elections. Primary elections took place on March 17, 1992. [1]

Contents

Braun, whose victory coincided with Bill Clinton's win in Illinois and the overall presidential election, made history in this election by becoming the first African American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, and also the first African American elected to the Senate as a Democrat. Braun was also both the first African American and the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Illinois.

Background

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal elections (president and House), as well as those for state offices. [1] [2]

For the primaries, turnout was 35.20%, with 2,064,347 votes cast. [1] For the general election, turnout was 74.84%, with 4,939,557 votes cast. [2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic Primary, United States Senate, 1992 [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Carol Moseley Braun 557,694 38.3%
Democratic Alan J. Dixon (incumbent)504,07734.6%
Democratic Albert Hofeld394,49727.1%
Total votes1,456,268 100.0%
Democratic primary results by county .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Moseley Braun 30-40% 40-50% Dixon 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Hofeld 30-40% 40-50% 1992 United States Senate Democratic primary in Illinois results map by county.svg
Democratic primary results by county
  Moseley Braun
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  Dixon
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Hofeld
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%

Analysis

This defeat shocked observers; at the time no senator had been defeated in a primary in over a decade and Dixon had a long record of electoral success. He was a moderate Democrat who recently voted to confirm Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. [4] Braun, a black woman and known reformist liberal, got a large share of black, liberal, and women voters ("The Year of the Woman").

In addition, she carried Cook County, Illinois, by far the most populated county in the state. Another factor was the third candidate in the race, multi-millionaire attorney Al Hofeld. Hofeld drew away some of the moderate and conservative Democrats who normally supported Dixon. He also spent a lot of money running advertisements attacking Dixon, weakening his support.

Republican primary

Richard S. Williamson ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Republican Primary, United States Senate, 1992 [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Richard S. Williamson 608,079 100.00%
Total votes608,079 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Major

Minor

  • Kathleen Kaku (SW)
  • Chad Koppie (I)
  • Alan J. Port (NA)
  • Andrew B. Spiegel (L)
  • Charles A. Winter (NL)

Results

Moseley Braun won the 1992 Illinois Senate Race by a fairly comfortable margin. Moseley Braun did well as expected in Cook County home of Chicago. Williamson did well in the Chicago collar counties, and most northern parts of the state. Moseley Braun had a surprisingly strong showing in southern Illinois, which Republicans had come to dominate in the last several decades. Braun also did well in Rock Island County.

1992 Illinois U.S. Senate Election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Carol Moseley Braun 2,631,229 53.27
Republican Richard S. Williamson 2,126,83343.06
Independent Chad Koppie100,4222.03
Libertarian Andrew B. Spiegel34,5270.70
Natural Law Charles A. Winter15,1180.31
New Alliance Alan J. Port12,6890.26
Socialist Workers Kathleen Kaku10,0560.20
Populist John Justice8,6560.16
Write-in Don A. Togersen250.00
Write-in Walter A. Feiss10.00
Write-in Roe Conn10.00
Turnout 4,939,55774.84
Democratic hold Swing

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "State of Illinois official vote cast at the primary election held on ..." Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "State of Illinois official vote cast at the general election ." Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "United States Senator". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  4. ↑ Charles Babington and Dan Balz (August 17, 2005). "Democrats Feel Heat From Left On Roberts". The Washington Post . Washington Post Company. p. A01. Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, said [...] 'History shows us that voters turned on Alan Dixon for his vote on Clarence Thomas and voters gave Arlen Specter the toughest reelection of his life.'
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